Navigating the NDIS (National Disability Insurance Scheme) can be a daunting task, especially when it comes to ensuring that all workers have the necessary certifications. One crucial certification is the NDIS Worker Screening Check, a vital step in safeguarding the well-being of those receiving NDIS support. In this article, we’ll delve into everything you need to know about the NDIS Worker Screening Check.
What is an NDIS Worker Screening Check?
An NDIS Worker Screening Check is a rigorous background check conducted to ensure that individuals working with people with disabilities are suitable for their roles. This check is part of a broader effort to protect participants from harm and ensure that support workers and other personnel meet high safety standards.
Who Needs a Worker Screening Check?
All individuals beginning work with registered NDIS providers in specific roles, known as risk assessed roles, must obtain an NDIS Clearance before starting their job.
This includes:
- Employees and volunteers engaged in NDIS-related services.
- Self-managed NDIS participants who hire their own workers.
- Providers of NDIS-funded services.
- Key personnel in organizations delivering NDIS services.
Identifying Risk Assessed Roles
A risk assessed role is one that:
- Is a key personnel role, such as a CEO or Board Member, as defined in s 11A of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013.
- Involves direct delivery of specified supports or services to a person with disability.
- Is likely to require ‘more than incidental contact’ with people with disability, including:
- Physically touching a person with disability.
- Building a rapport with a person with disability as a normal part of job duties.
- Having contact with multiple people with disability during the delivery of specialist support or services, or in a specialist disability accommodation setting.
Providers can contact the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission’s Worker Screening Helpdesk for more information on risk assessed roles and compliance requirements.
How to Apply for a Worker Screening Check
You can apply for your NDIS Check online through Service Victoria.
Apply now at Service Victoria.
To apply:
- Register or log in to your Service Victoria account.
- Verify your identity.
- Submit your identification documents for your police check and other background checks.
- Enter your work details, including the Employer ID of the individual or organization requiring the NDIS Check.
- Review and provide consent for the checks.
- Pay for your application.
Your application will then need to be verified by the employer named in your application. Once verified, the NDIS Worker Screening Unit in Victoria will assess your application.
The Worker Screening Unit will send you an email confirming receipt of your application and outlining the next steps.
Cost of the NDIS Check
The fee for an NDIS Check is $128.20, and an NDIS Clearance is valid for five years from the date of issuance unless surrendered or revoked.
The current fee is valid until June 30, 2024. From July 1, 2024, the fee will increase to $131.60.
To meet legislative requirements, some individuals must obtain both an NDIS Clearance and a Working with Children (WWC) Clearance if their NDIS role involves child-related work. If you are required to hold both under legislation, you may have the WWC fee waived. However, you must obtain the NDIS Clearance before the WWC Check fee can be waived.
Refunds are not available to those not required to hold a WWC Check under the Worker Screening Act 2020, even if their organization’s policy mandates it.
If you have an NDIS Clearance and have already paid for your WWC Check, you can request a refund by completing the Refund Request form and emailing it to ndisworkerscreening@justice.vic.gov.au.
NDIS Worker Screening Database
The NDIS Worker Screening Database is a national repository that stores the results of all NDIS Worker Screening Checks. It allows providers to verify the status of a worker’s check and ensures that only those who meet the required standards are engaged in delivering NDIS services.
As a registered NDIS provider, your organization automatically has access to the NDIS Worker Screening Database via the NDIS Commission Portal, so no application is needed.
If you have applied to become a registered NDIS provider and need access to the NDIS Worker Screening Database, contact the NDIS Worker Screening Helpdesk at nwsd@ndiscommission.gov.au for assistance.
Self-managed and plan-managed participants, as well as unregistered NDIS providers, can access the NDIS Worker Screening Database after completing an application form requesting access.
Getting Your Application Verified
Once you complete your application, the nominated provider or participant will receive a notification from the NDIS Commission, giving them 30 days to verify your application.
If your application is not verified within this period, it will be withdrawn.
If you entered the wrong provider or participant and your application has not yet been verified, you can log into your Service Victoria account to add the correct employer, or email the Worker Screening Unit with the correct Employer ID.
After You Apply
Your employer or self-managed NDIS participant has 30 days to verify your application and confirm your current or intended employment through the Commission’s National Worker Screening Database (NWSD). If your application is not verified within this timeframe, it may be withdrawn.
Once verified, it can take up to three weeks to assess your application, though this process is often quicker if no criminal history needs to be reviewed.
If further assessment is required, the evaluation may take up to three weeks and could be extended if:
- The employer delays in verifying your engagement.
- You have a common name.
- There is a criminal history record or a finding against you by a relevant disciplinary or regulatory body.
- You submit a manual application directly to the Worker Screening Unit.
If Your Check is Successful
If your check is successful, you will receive a clearance that is valid for up to five years. This clearance allows you to work in any NDIS risk assessed role across Australia.
Your employer can check the status of your NDIS Clearance on the NWSD at any time. Registered NDIS providers are required to link workers to their organisation through the NDIS Commission portal.
If They Need More Information
If additional information is required, you may be contacted to provide further details or documentation.
If you fail to respond to their request within 28 days or any longer period they specify in their request, your application will be withdrawn.
If You Fail the Check
You will receive an Interim Exclusion if your application falls under Category A.
For Category B applications, you will also receive an Interim Exclusion unless we find exceptional circumstances based on the factors outlined in the Act.
If your application is Category C and we determine that granting you an NDIS Clearance would pose an unacceptable risk to people with disability, you will be given an Interim Exclusion.
You will then have the chance to explain why you believe you should pass the check and respond to the information that led to the Interim Exclusion.
After assessing your response, you may be granted an NDIS Clearance.
If we determine, after reviewing your response, that there are no exceptional circumstances or that you still pose an unacceptable risk to people with disability, you will be issued an NDIS Exclusion.
You cannot work in a risk-assessed role whilst you have an Interim Exclusion.
Penalties for Not Applying
The NDIS Commission oversees compliance for NDIS registered providers. Providers who fail to meet the national requirements for NDIS Checks may face penalties under federal laws.
Penalties are also enforced under Victoria’s Worker Screening Act 2020 for individuals and organizations that violate its provisions. Offences include working in a risk-assessed role without an NDIS Clearance and submitting false or misleading information.
Penalties for not complying can be found here.
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